


Poor First Impressions

by soft_but_gremlin



Series: Rael Averross Hours (oneshots) [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Master and Apprentice - Claudia Gray
Genre: Gen, Hostage Situations, Jedi Lineages (Star Wars), Jedi as Found Family (Star Wars), Podracing (Star Wars), Undercover Missions, lineage feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-11-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27544339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_but_gremlin/pseuds/soft_but_gremlin
Summary: Rael had been meaning to introduce himself to Obi-Wan's new padawan. But not here, not now, and certainly not in a situation like this.But all is as the Force wills it, he supposed.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Rael Averross & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Rael Averross & Qui-Gon Jinn
Series: Rael Averross Hours (oneshots) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2093586
Comments: 14
Kudos: 117





	Poor First Impressions

Technically, Rael wasn’t supposed to bet on the podracers. When you had your mark breathing down your neck, though, looking for any sign you weren’t who you said you were, sometimes you had to do things you weren’t supposed to.

He looked at the names, at the pods. One name stood out to him:  _ Jinn Skyrider _ . With a snort of amusement, he placed his bets on Jinn. When the name he was currently using was  _ Ross Jinn _ , how could he not?

“Skyrider’s good,” his mark said, “but  _ I _ wouldn’t place my bets on him. He gets cocky, arrogant, and makes stupid mistakes in the last third.”

“I suppose we’ll see,” Rael said placidly.

The two of them settled in to watch the race. Everything seemed fine, until Jinn Skyrider came out. He was short, wore a full pilot’s helmet with a dark tint to the visor, and everything about his posture screamed  _ offworlder _ .

And there was something else, something Rael couldn’t identify right away, but…

He had a bad feeling about this.

There was a  _ bang! _ and the podracers were off. And suddenly, there was a  _ singing _ in the Force. Someone was so happy that they were absolutely  _ flooding _ the Force with their joy, and it was powerful enough that it gave Rael a headache. It faded quickly as the podracers zoomed off, and that’s when Rael realized that he  _ knew _ that Force signature.

Dumb motherkriffing  _ kid _ .

There was nothing Rael could do though, except wait for the race to finish. He desperately wanted to go down there, get the kid out, send him right back to the Temple. It wasn’t  _ safe _ here for children, much less  _ Force-sensitive _ children.

“You don’t do any of that Jedi shit, right?” his mark said. “Like seeing the future and stuff?”

“I thought you didn’t believe me when I said my brother’s a Jedi.”

“I  _ don’t _ ,” the mark said, “but you don’t see the future, right?”

“Nah,” Rael said. “No seeing the future or floating toys or any of that shit. I don’t read minds either. That was some freaky shit, when he was a little kid. Soon as he learned to talk, he was arguin’ with me about shit I never even said.”

“Thought the Jedi took ‘em right after birth.”

“Ma wanted to keep him at first. By age three, we couldn’t deal with him anymore, so we called the Jedi and they took him. Didn’t see him again until he was grown, and he was much less of a menace by then. We’re not exactly close or anything, with him galavantin’ all over the galaxy, but we talk some.”

  
“And he doesn’t hate you or anything? For sending him away?”

“Nah, he’s happy there, among his own kind.”

“ _ I’d _ hate my family, if they sent me away,” the mark said. 

Rael shrugged and lit a cigarra, turning back to the race right as the podracers started zooming past again for the second lap. Skyrider was in the lead at the moment.

Then, suddenly, Skyrider’s ride choked and lost power, and dozens of pods raced past him.

“Ooh, tough luck,” the mark said. “That’s sabotage, right there. Betcha someone he pissed off put spice in the tank.”

“Seems like a waste of spice,” Rael said. His headache was back, only this time it was fury instead of joy.  _ Skyrider _ it was, then. He’d figured, but it was annoying to be right.

“Depends on what you’ve got riding on the race,” the mark said. “It’s a good delayed sabotage, though. By the time it takes effect, you’re well into the race and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Guaranteed loss, sorry Jinn.”

“Hmm,” Rael said.

The third lap came and went soon enough, but Rael was focused on Skyrider as he was slowly towed back to the garages. The garages could be seen from where they were sitting, and as Rael watched, once the podracer was safely stashed, Skyrider jumped out and stormed off purposefully, as though he had someone to track down and kill.

Kriff.

“Let’s reconvene later,” Rael said.

“What?” the mark said. “You  _ insisted _ on getting this done tonight!”

“Something’s come up,” Rael said, getting up. Whatever Obi-Wan’s new padawan was about to do, he had a feeling it was going to be monumentally unwise.

Down three flights of stairs, cross through the tunnel, up two flights of stairs, and those were the garages. From there, he’d have to figure out where the kid had gone, but at least he had something to start with. 

He tossed his cigarra into a garbage can as he ran. The garbage immediately lit on fire, but he didn’t have time to sort that out.

He had to be careful, though. No Jedi shit. He couldn’t afford to blow his cover.

He found the garages, found Skyrider’s podracer, and followed the way he’d seen the kid storm off. There were a series of hallways that he went through, all of them empty, since nearly everyone was up watching the final events of the podrace. Rael did his best to track Skyrider in the Force. It wasn’t the most difficult, since the boy shined like a double sun in the Force.

The fury in his Force-signature suddenly turned to fear. Rael ran faster.

Finally he turned a corner, and there were two people who had their hands on Skyrider. One of them, a tall human, had him in their arms, pinned to their chest, and the other, a scrawny Twi’lek, was trying to grab his legs, which were kicking out wildly. Everyone was yelling.

Rael drew his blaster and fired a warning shot between the Twi’lek and Skyrider. Everyone froze.

“Let him go,” Rael said calmly.

“And who the kriff are you?” the human asked.

“Ross Jinn. Let the damn kid go before you do something you regret.”

In the back of his mind, Rael felt another familiar Force-signature. He cast out to it, too focused on the situation to figure out who it was, but aware enough of how hostage situations tended to go around him to be sure that the other Jedi sensed him before things went south.

“This isn’t a kid,” the Twi’lek said. “Mind your business before  _ you _ do something you regret.”

“That’s my nephew,” Rael said. “I think you’ll find that he  _ is _ my business. Now, this is my last warning. Let. Him. Go.”

The two of them thought about it a moment. Then, in an instant, the Twi’lek drew his blaster and put it to Skyrider’s temple.

“Shoot us and the kid dies,” the Twi’lek said.

“On the contrary,” Rael said calmly. “The kid’s safety is the only thing that will keep the two of you alive. You harm one hair on him, I’ll kill you both.”

He could tell they weren’t sure if he was bluffing. To be fair, he also wasn’t sure if he was bluffing.

Skyrider’s fear was thick in the air around him, and Rael could see it starting to influence the two would-be kidnappers. He probably only had a short amount of time before one of them did something stupid. He tapped against the other Jedi’s Force-signature, projecting what he hoped was a  _ hurry!  _ into the Force. He tried to project calm towards Anakin, but the boy rejected it. That was fair, Rael supposed. He was not only a stranger, but a stranger with a blaster pointed at him and intentions to take him somewhere.

“How much are you willing to pay for your boy’s safe return?” the Twi’lek asked. “You’re not getting him back for nothing.”

“I’m not a slave,” Skyrider snapped. “You can’t make him pay for me!”

“Shut up kid!” The Twi’lek shoved the blaster against Skyrider’s helmet, and the kid hissed as his head snapped to the side. Careless. Careless careless careless.

Rael saw a shock of red hair behind the two kidnappers, and he grinned coldly. “I’ve already told you,” he said. “Hand him over, and you keep your lives.”

There was a  _ click-zhwarm _ , and suddenly a blue lightsaber was millimeters away from the Twi’lek’s throat.

“Drop the weapon,” a soft Coruscanti voice said. It may have been quiet, but it was icy. 

The Twi’lek dropped his blaster like it was hot, and slowly raised his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat. The blaster skittered away on its own accord.

“Let go of my Padawan,” the Jedi said, and with how afraid the human was, Obi-Wan probably didn’t need the Force-suggestion, but damn was there  _ Force _ behind his words. The human dropped Skyrider like he was a sack of fornaxes and stepped back, hands up.

Rael shot them both. 

It was set to stun, but he didn’t want them changing their mind and doing anything stupid. Skyrider shrieked and ducked behind Obi-Wan, who gave him a furious look.

“I didn’t kill them,” Rael said. But that was all he said, because—

“Sacred  _ poodoo! _ ” shouted someone from behind them. Rael spun, blaster pointed. Behind him, Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber.

It was the mark.

“Jinn, that’s a  _ Jedi! _ ”

“I  _ told _ you,” Rael said, lowering his blaster. “This is my nephew.” 

“Excuse me, what is going on?” Obi-Wan asked, now both confused  _ and _ angry. “Did you kidnap Anakin to take him  _ podracing? _ ”

Ah, right, Anakin was his name.

“Are you kiddin’?” Rael said. “He bites.”

Obi-Wan glared.

“Nah, your ol’ Uncle Ross has recently come into some...fortunate prospects,” Rael said, hoping that Obi-Wan would catch on and start  _ playing along _ . “And it seems that your little brother has taught  _ you _ a very important lesson about babysittin’. If you need a recommendation, I know a solid model of tracking fob that I used to lowjack Fanry with. She was  _ notorious _ for runnin’ off and sneakin’ around. I’ll tell you all about it while I walk you two up to the street to catch a cab, I  _ know _ it’s past Anakin’s bedtime.”

“That’s a real  _ Jedi _ ,” the mark whispered to himself.

Obi-Wan still looked furious, but he deactivated his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt.

“There’s a good kid,” Rael said.

Obi-Wan glared at him again, then turned and knelt down to Anakin. “Are you alright?” he asked gently, checking Anakin over.

“I’m okay,” Anakin said. “I’m sorry for getting into trouble.”

Obi-Wan sighed. “We’ll talk about this later,” he said, standing up. He put a hand on Anakin’s shoulder, and said, “Let’s go home.”

Before he joined the boys, Rael turned to the mark. “How’s tomorrow at two?” he asked.

“Good,” the mark said, almost dazed. “Yeah, that’s good.”

“I’ll send you an address,” Rael said, with a wolfish grin. He had the mark now—hook, line, and sinker.

“Sounds great,” the mark said.

“Come on, kids,” Rael said. “This is no place for Jedi.”

He led the two of them out, following mostly the same way he came in. He lent Obi-Wan his jacket so the poor kid looked less like a Jedi and less conspicuous. Now he looked like a cold Jakkuvian, especially with the lightsaber hidden. The three of them were very quiet throughout the walk.

Finally, when they were out on the street, and not surrounded by the kind of people who went to illegal podraces, Obi-Wan asked quietly, “What happened tonight?”

“I’m sure Anakin would be happy to tell you about it,” Rael said, clapping a hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Obi-Wan was taller than him now, how annoying.

“I’m sure I’d like to hear it from you,  _ Uncle Ross _ ,” Obi-Wan said, and oh, it hurt, how much Obi-Wan sounded like Qui-Gon sometimes.

Rael managed to hail a cab, and as it descended to street level, he said, “You’ll have to wait until I’m done with...some business, then. We’ll have dinner, Dex’s place. Bring your brother, he deserves a better introduction than what he got tonight.”

Obi-Wan sighed, and the poor kid looked so, so tired. Rael wasn’t sure there was any point since Naboo when he  _ hadn’t _ looked tired. If it were up to Rael he’d bundle Obi-Wan up and steal them away on a ship, and fly until the two of them had outflown every concern, every grief, every pain that plagued them.

But that wasn’t the Jedi way. And Rael had already tried it once. It didn’t work nearly as well as one would think.

“Go home, Obi-Wan, and get some rest,” Rael said as the cab doors open. “Uh, do give me back my jacket though. There’s things in the pockets that I need.”

Obi-Wan almost smiled as he handed the jacket over, and Rael grinned back. He shook Obi-Wan’s shoulder a bit, and then let Obi-Wan and Anakin get into the cab.

As the cab flew off into the Coruscanti night, Rael slid his jacket back on. His lightsaber bumped comfortingly against his chest from where it was hidden in an interior pocket.

He’d spent too much time not reaching out to the tattered remnants of his family. After this mission, he’d have to change that.

**Author's Note:**

> I might post a second chapter of this but I don't currently have a second chapter planned so this will stay a oneshot for now.


End file.
